A Taste Of Gold And Iron Novels & Stories

“My scouts lacked data on his preferences, so my choice was basic. Deliver this to his line!” Brandon popped the iron latch, his eyes narrowing as the contents caught the firelight. It was a solid bar of unrefined gold, its weight massive enough to break a wolf's stride. The sheer density of the metal almost blinded Brandon under the torches. Brandon looked up, completely baffled by the choice. Ethan Carter’s face darkened further. “Does your pack consider raw metal a poor offering?” Brandon chuckled, a low rumble in his throat. “This is the most unpolished, functional tribute I have ever witnessed enter this valley!”

I reply. “Do you have a lot of gold in your pack?” She asks and I grin. “We are the Ironbound, my home is packed with all types of metals. Gold and silver and even rarer metals.” I reply her. That one is not a lie, the metals are the main source of our wealth. “Wowww.” She replies. “I should like to visit there someday.” She says wistfully, a dreamer. “Even better.” I say and lower my voice. “Why not just follow me the next time I visit home?” I ask and her eyes twinkle with delight.

“Prove me wrong?” “I can’t.” I shrug, sipping from my mug and then resting it on my knee. The Sapphires have a gift, and that gift is the manipulation of metal, turning a cord of iron into anything they desire just by touching it. Those gifts take years to develop and even longer to perfect. Roman can make iron into gold and copper into jewels, but it’s not perfect yet.

The silence here wasn't the peaceful quiet of the sanctuary; it was the airless, metallic weight of an industrial grave. Below us, Iron Ridge sat nestled in the throat of a collapsed silver mine like a crown of rusted iron and shattered glass. Toxic neon indigo flickered through the haze—advertisements for bootleg silver-salt and black-market adrenaline that had no business being so bright in a world that had forgotten the sun.

This was the stillness of a dog that has bitten before and knows it doesn’t need to bark every time. “Well,” he said. “Sleeping Beauty lives.” My mouth was dry enough that speaking hurt a little. “I try not to disappoint.” His eyes stayed on me a second longer than I liked. Then he tilted his head slightly, and the moonlight slipping through the high broken windows caught at his eyes. Gold. Not bright. Not theatrical. Not some glowing fairytale nonsense. Just a faint wrong gleam where human eyes should only have reflected and let go of the light. Here it caught and stayed a fraction too long, dull and predatory, like an ember buried under flesh.

The other Elders were huddled in the shadows, praying to a Moon that wasn't listening to them anymore. I turned toward the heavy iron gate that led back to the courtyard. I could still hear Killian’s roars, fainter now, but still there. He was still fighting. I walked to the gate. I didn't look for a key. I didn't look for a lever. I placed my glowing palms against the iron. The runes etched into the metal screamed in protest, sparks of blue fire dancing around my fingers. I pushed. The metal didn't just break. It melted. The iron turned to liquid slag, flowing away from my touch until there was nothing left but an open archway.

The beautiful green dream of the last few days was gone, replaced by the grim reality of a landscape we had to fight to keep. ​Harl and Leo emerged from the sub-vaults, their faces covered in a new layer of ash. They looked at the withered vines and the dead moss. ​"Did we lose it all?" Harl asked, touching a blackened root. ​I walked over and knelt by the base of the primary trunk. Deep inside the scorched bark, I could see a tiny, stubborn glint of gold. It wasn't the Surgeons' "perfect" gel. It was something new—a mixture of the nutrient fluid and the raw iron-slurry from our boilers. It was ugly, it was thick, and it was alive.

They glowed with a solid, metallic gold light that seemed to burn right through the shadows. “A Wolfe never settles a debt,” she said, locking those golden eyes on mine. The gaze felt like it was peeling the skin right off my bones to see the secrets hidden underneath. “They only put off the payment until the interest becomes too high to ignore. And you, Darius Wolfe... you finally brought me the final installment.” She shifted her gaze to Iris, and for a split second, I saw something almost human flicker in that gold—a flash of pure, starving hunger.

Gold is so close into believing that they're just lying. He can't feel any pleasure at all! He was drunk when he first boned a woman so he can't really remember how it felt. Right now, the only thing he's feeling is discomfort. Olive has soft lips, but her mouth feels rough on the side of his mouth. He's doing everything to dodge her kisses. "Gold..." Her moans turn into an irritated whine. The golden boy is barely moving! Olive even had to take off her halter top on her own!

“I want to get married to Aurora, you won't regret it.” His men open the briefcases and my eyes immediately widen with shock. Two suitcases containing bars of gold, three suitcases filled with stacks of hundred dollar bills, one containing jewelry, another containing property deeds, and one briefcase containing car keys. This, this, this. Isn't this something that only happens in movies? How can someone have so much? All these are definitely upto a billion dollars or more. “Leonardo Cassano?” My mom whispers, her body shaking. Her face turns white, and she collapses against the wall.